Web Application

WHAT: Kinfo is a familial social network designed to allow users to discover and document their ancestral roots, explore their living family network, and share media together.

WHY: I got the idea for Kinfo after realizing that the number of relatives I had heard about far outnumbered the relatives I had ever met. Growing up, my parents would casually reference cousins, aunts, and uncles who were notable for one reason or another. I could never remember their names or which side of the family they came from, but I knew that someone was a former FBI agent and someone else lived in Paris and someone was a Professor of Mathematics. My own social world didn't have anyone like that in it, and I wanted to know who these people were, and that I could call on them if I ever needed their expertise. I also wanted to know the history of my ancestors, but the stories and photographs were spread across many great aunts and great uncles I didn't know. Lastly, I felt that the older I grew, the more distant my extended family seemed to me. We would get together a few times a year for holidays, and spend most of our catching-up time just reacquainting ourselves. I knew this situation was far different from the large and close-knit families that other people had.

The heart of the application is the family "hedge", an innovative (and patent-pending!) way to explore your family, your family's family, and so on. To the right is an example of television's Soprano family in Kinfo.

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